


Boba Vhett: Mand'alor haa Evaar'la

by scrapmetal



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jango Fett Open Seasons (Comics), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Character and relationship tags will be added as fic continues, Fic will stay gen, Gen, Mandalorian Culture (Star Wars), Mandalorian History (Star Wars), Very minor spoilers for the Mandalorian season 2, i'm calling this a lore fixit. is that a thing?, its also just an au in general lmao, just a lot of background worldbuilding, yes i am giving a 15 year old a large amount of political power what of it?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27677173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrapmetal/pseuds/scrapmetal
Summary: Boba took the Darksaber off the corpse and eyed all the other Death Watch members in the room.“Any complaints?”Five years into the Clone Wars, Boba Fett decides to take the dire state of Mandalore into his own hands. Fulfilling his legacy as a Fett of House Mereel.
Relationships: Din Djarin & Boba Fett
Comments: 30
Kudos: 240





	1. kadala

**Author's Note:**

> So, the depressing state of Mandalorian politics during the Clone Wars, amirite? This fic might get a bit expansive... I have a lot planned.  
> Mando'a translations are in the end notes, this fic will default to Mando'a terms a lot so here's your warning for that now.  
> Oh yeah also I made the Clone Wars longer. Don't worry about that.

Boba silently wondered how much longer he’d be able to crawl around in vents. It'd been one of his favorite tricks growing up, but now that he was 15 it was getting much harder to shimmy through just anything. 

Thankfully, the Death Watch headquarters had vents that were just big enough for Boba to fit and just small enough for no one to consider it a security issue. The place was massive and mazelike, it used to be a museum before Kyr'tsad came along and transformed it into their base. Lucky for him, Boba had been blessed with an absolute nerd of a ba’buir that had filled the family archive with near useless documents all throughout his life, which for whatever reason included blueprints for the original museum.

(Jango once caught Boba with his head stuffed in a book and laughed a little bit, saying something about the bookworm gene skipping a generation. Boba asked him how that worked, considering Jango was a founding and Boba was his clone, but Jango just replied by asking when Mando’ade had ever cared about that.)

It was all almost a spontaneous decision on Boba's part, flying to Manda'yaim on his own, landing in Keldabe on his own, crawling in the vents of the headquarters on his own… He _had_ done his research though. Pre Vizsla was there, he would have the Darksaber. Boba would be able to sneak in, challenge Pre to a duel before any of his guards noticed the stranger in the walls, and then become the first true Mand’alor in decades after Tor Vizsla gained possession of the Darksaber through foul play.

He just had to make it through these vents. 

* * *

Boba was honestly pretty surprised he was still alive as the duel started. Kyr'tsad was not above killing children, it was not above disregarding the traditions surrounding the title of Mand'alor. But the others in the room had allowed him to challenge Pre, and soon the two were circling each other slowly.

The Darksaber seemed to call for Boba even in the hands of Pre Vizsla. If Pre felt it, he didn't comment on it. Didn't react. It was funny, Boba thought. The galaxy was so obsessed with bloodlines. The auretiise of New Mandalore established a monarchy to appeal to the Republic, to give Mandalore a “real” political system, and even Clan Vizsla, an ancient family, hadn't taken in a single foundling since before the establishment of Death Watch. And yet here, the Darksaber, in the hands of a direct descendant of its creator, had chosen a simple Vhett. 

Not that Boba was a farmer or anything.

As Pre awkwardly twirled around the Darksaber it became clear he didn't know how to use it. Clearly he'd imagined the blade of plasma would handle like a normal kad. In contrast, Boba wielded a slugthrower, a gun, one most similar to a pistol blaster, an old thing he'd picked up to add to his collection of guns that’d been growing over the course of the war. The knockback was considerable and reloading the bullets was harder than recharging a blaster, but Boba knew how to use them. Five years of Jedi getting too close for comfort had taught Boba firsthand something Mando'ade had known for years, guns worked very well against lightsabers.

It didn't take long for Boba to shoot Pre directly in the neck, the bullet tearing through his windpipe and knocking the man to the ground. Pre couldn't even attempt to deflect the thing, not that a ‘saber could deflect a chunk of metal. When he went down, Boba kicked off his buy'ce and shot him again in the head, not bothering (not wanting) to look down. The man had to stay dead. 

After the two loud shots, the room was eerily quiet. If nothing else, guns made for good drama. Boba took the Darksaber off the corpse and eyed all the other Kyr'tsad members in the room. 

“Any complaints?”

Boba was overconfident, but he still knew when he was sorely outnumbered. Hopefully the Kyr’tsad members in the room would hold onto the bit of dignity they’d shown when he’d arrived and the duel would be respected. It would be easy to just swarm him and pretend like he’d never had the Darksaber in the first place. And even if they ended up respecting the duel there was a chance that everyone in the room would challenge him for the Darksaber individually. 

One of the Mandos scoffed, stepping towards Boba. Their buy'ce had a visor shape Boba had never seen before but seemed to be used by everyone in the room besides pre. There were owl eyes above it though, which was nice. “I'm not letting a fifteen year old rule mandalore.”

Boba shrugged, holstering his gun and bringing out his favored blaster pistols. As Mand'alor, he probably should've brought the Darksaber back out, but he wasn't as dumb as Pre. He'd actually practice using the thing before dueling. 

“There's two ways to follow the sixth tenant, and I'm ready enough for another round.”

The Mando sighed, clearly irritated. “I'm not killing a fifteen year old either.”

“Really?” Boba asked, mock surprise thick. “Well I think you should've thought a bit harder about things before deciding you wanted to be high enough in Kyr'tsad to be in this room, watching your leader attempt to kill a fifteen year old.”

The Mando took off their buy'ce, revealing their pale skin and very straight red hair that had been cut just short enough to prevent it from peeking past the helmet.

“Look,” they started. Their expression was such that Boba already knew he was about to be talked down to. “I know what the Resol'nare says, but I think we can come to a more _reasonable_ agreement. I was already planning on reforming Kyr'tsad when Vizsla died anyways, so if you really want to do some actual good, you should give the darksaber to me.”

Boba's eyes widened in recognition as the Mando spoke. “You're that Kryze! No wonder you want to take this from me without a duel like you’re dar’manda. Reform won’t do anything for _Death Watch,_ idiot. Mando'ade need a real Mand'alor again, I'm taking things back to before Kyr'tsad and New Mandalore ruined it all.”

Kryze huffed, nearly rolling her eyes. “Back to what, the violent clans that predeceased Death Watch in the first place? Please.”

“Spoken like a true Kryze,” Boba muttered. “I’m not here to give you a history lesson, but why are you even _here_ if you think it was like that? Shouldn’t you be up in that city made of stolen beskar on the other side of the planet, drinking up more propaganda?”

“New Mandalore might be a bit too cowardly for my taste,” Kryze started, her feathers clearly ruffled, “but they know how to document things. I grew up on Mandalorian history, I didn’t think I’d need a _refresher_ when I left.”

Boba genuinely could not believe that Kryze, an adult who had been in Kyr'tsad for at least a decade, knew less about pre-civil war Manda’yaim than he, a fifteen year old, did. She really had been riding off her New Mandalorian upbringing and education while being complicit in the worst of Kyr'tsad. 

“Look- have you ever. Have you ever heard of the Supercommando Codex?” Boba asked, feeling almost silly for having to bring it up. “I’m just going to…” He fished around in one of his many pockets, bringing out a small datapad and scrolling around a bit before he found what he was looking for. “Read this. It was written about 50 years ago by my ba’buir Jaster Mareel, Mand'alor at the time. It reinforces generally widespread Mandalorian values at the time… It’s why Kyr’tsad was formed, idiot. It was a direct response to Jaster calling out some of the older and powerful clans for becoming immoral and corrupt. Like Clan Vizsla, for example. Haran, I cannot believe I’m explaining this to you.”

Kryze just took the datapad with a disbelieving huff and brushed Boba aside. Another Mando came up next to her and whispered something. Boba could only barely make it out.

_“He’s not lying, you know that, right?”_

Boba smirked under his buy’ce at the surprise on Kryze’s face. Her eyes scanned the datapad, seeming more bewildered with every passing second. 

“So are you going to duel me or follow me?” Boba asked after Kryze had been reading for a decent amount of time. “You could do neither, but I’d like to think there’s at least a bit of mandokar rolling around in that buy’ce of yours.” 

Kryze leveled angry eyes at Boba. “You already think I’m aruetii, don’t you?”

“I’m not going to call you anything,” Boba replied simply. 

Kryze looked back at the Mando who had confirmed that Boba was telling the truth. “Koska? You have anything to say? Considering you seem to know more about this than me.”

Koska rolled their head around a bit, considering things, and then directed their words at Boba. “You’re of House Mereel, right? If you can prove that, you could prove to the public that you're most likely to be the one chosen to be Mand'alor from the more… proper side of things.”

Boba nodded swiftly. “My buir Jango passed the mantle to me just a few years ago. Reclaiming the Darksaber was the last step.”

“Well there we go!” Koska exclaimed happily, putting a hand on Kryze’s shoulder. “Not everyone will accept Fett, obviously, you can’t get Mando’ade to agree on the smallest things, but it’ll be better than Pre. Almost no one likes Kyr’tsad, so his promise to dismantle it all will be popular. Remember, there's a reason you haven’t killed Vizsla yet, and if you kill Fett things’ll be even worse. The kid’ll be a good ally.”

Kryze sighed, clearly not happy about the development, and stuck out her forearm. “Alright. Mand’alor Fett, you have the support of me and the Nite Owls. For now.”

Boba grasped Kryze’s forearm and shook it once. “Vor entye, Miss Kryze.”

“Bo-Katan,” she corrected, voice flat.

“I’m sorry. Lady Bo-Katan Kryze, then,” Boba replied, his mocking grin barely hidden in his voice.

* * *

“This'll be dangerous you know,” Bo-Katan muttered as she worked to slice Pre’s systems. “Slicing” as in trying out every passcode she thought Pre might’ve used and trying them all.

“Yeah, I know. Everyone's going to find out anyways, not much I can do about that,” Boba replied nonchalantly. He didn't say that he felt like he had some sort of _responsibility_ to announce the power shift through something so official. Because that was a stupid reasoning, Bo-Katan was right, it was dangerous.

Bo-Katan didn't look like she believed him anyways. 

“You want to deliver this with your buy'ce on or off?”

Boba shivered minutely at the thought of being recognized as a clone. There was a reason he hadn't taken it off at all since he landed on Manda’yaim. 

“On.”

“People might think you're Morut’la if you don't have it held in front of you,” Bo-Katan warned, and Boba didn't quite see how that was much of a bad thing. He shrugged dismissively.

“I'm not as cruel as you might think I am, so this won't be live,” Bo-Katan said as she pointed a holorecorder at Boba. “Just don't dick around too much, we don't have all night.”

Boba frowned and almost started to argue with the sentiment that he’d mess around with something so serious, but then he realized he wanted to get it all over with instead. It took a few takes for Boba to be satisfied with the recording and then it took a few more for Bo-Katan to be satisfied. It was annoying, but Boba was just glad he'd been allowed to keep the line “my first action as the leader of Death Watch is to disband Death Watch.” Bo-Katan had kept on telling him to remove it, but there was little she could do to prevent him from saying it every single take.

“Well now you should probably leave Keldabe if you don't want to be killed,” Bo-Katan said after sending off the footage. “Death Watch has a strong presence here, and I doubt most of them will be happy about any of this. I'll have a couple Nite Owls escort you out. I'm hoping you have a plan for what you'll do next, if you do I'll try to see if I can gather up some allies to strengthen our numbers. But only if you have a plan.”

“I have a plan,” Boba responded, offended. “I'll go visit an alor’goran. Just like Koska said, I gotta prove my claims of being a Fett of House Mereel. Then I'll try to figure out what I can do with all of Pre’s official contacts n’ such. See if I can get anyone to listen to me.”

Bo-Katan shrugged. “Good enough for me. You have a ship?”

Boba scoffed. “How else would I have gotten here?”

“I'll send Koska and Ursa with you. They're skilled, they should be enough protection.”

Boba didn't know who Ursa was, but Koska seemed much more… Decent than Bo-Katan. Maybe that's why Bo-Katan wasn't coming. Boba certainly didn't mind at all. 

* * *

“So where are we going?” Koska asked casually as they inspected the interior of Boba's ship. It wasn't a great ship, it wasn't Slave I, but it did its job, and Boba didn't need to know much more than that and how to repair it. 

“I… Uh, I dunno. We'll find a place,” Boba responded nonchalantly.

“You don't even have like… A general area in mind?”

“Hey!” Boba rebutted, “I grew up on Concord Dawn!” A complete lie, but something he could get away with easily, “this is my first time on Manda’yaim, you can't expect me to know where anything is!”

“We'll go to Tsarud,” Ursa interjected. “I know of a good alor’goran down in the Morut'droten covert below there. It's on the outskirts of Kyr'tsad territory and far away from here. If anyone’s going to be happy about the shift in power, it’ll be them.”

“Tsarud,” Boba repeated quietly, typing the name of the town into the nav computer. The town was small enough that the computer didn't have much to say about it, but it was big enough to be located at all. “It'll be about an hour,” Boba warned. 

Ursa shrugged. “Not much you can do about that,” she said before disappearing into the hull of the ship. 

That left Koska and Boba to sit alone in the cockpit. Koska just sat in the copilot's seat, took off their buy'ce, and watched as the land moved below them. 

It took about ten minutes for Boba to work up to sparking conversation.

“Why'd you join Kyr'tsad?”

Koska looked up at Boba with a look on their face he couldn't place. “I really only joined the Nite Owls, Kyr'tsad just came with it. And I joined the Nite Owls to find a girlfriend.”

Boba hummed. “I see why you're called the Nite _Owls.”_

Koska laughed. “Yeah, I mean, it's first and foremost a group for dalcyase, but I guess nowadays we're more known for our skills as guards. Only Mando'ade could ever turn a pride and support group into a group of renowned protectors. Maybe it's just Bo, she wants to turn the group into a full on splinter. It feels a bit strange considering we're a… dalcya’yc group. I bet Bo’s out there right now finding everyone who sides with her that isn't dalcya’yc.”

“When'd you join the Nite Owls?” Boba asked. Koska couldn't've been any older than 18, which was actually pretty young if Boba actually thought about it for more than two seconds.

“Around your age,” Koska replied after a bit of thought. “There were more kids that age at the time than you'd think. That was before we did much dirty work. Officially, that is.”

“But it was still part of Kyr’tsad at that point, right?”

Koska huffed. “We’re based in Keldabe. Keldabe _is_ Kyr’tsad.”

“Right,” Boba responded awkwardly. His sources seemed to be a bit outdated. “What's working under Bo-Katan like?”

“Interesting,” Koska replied. It took a few seconds for Boba to realize they weren't going to elaborate.

“I can imagine,” he muttered. 

The cockpit fell into a barely comfortable silence. Koska just sat, looking out at the wispy clouds in the air. Boba was watching the unfamiliar landscape below them intently, the nav computer said they were getting close.

It didn't take long before Tsarud appeared. It was small, much smaller than Keldabe. A thin river snaked up next to it, carving a path that created three fourths of the town’s outer bounds.

Ursa had reappeared at some point and stood right over Boba, scanning the town. 

“That’s it. The river marks the end of Kyr'tsad territory, so we’re really on the edge. Hopefully that means you’ll be pretty popular.”

Boba nodded absently, taking note of the comment. There was no turning back now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I am just calling slugthrowers guns in this. It feels a bit nicer. If you were confused by that, Boba just has a normal gun cuz those exist in Star Wars still. 
> 
> Mando'a translations:  
> Kyr'tsad- Death Watch  
> ba'buir- grandparent  
> Mando'ade- Mandalorians  
> Manda'yaim- Mandalore  
> Mand'alor- the sole ruler of the Mandalorians  
> aruetii (aruetiise pl.)- outsider, someone who is not Mandalorian  
> vhett- farmer, also the Mando'a version of Fett  
> kad- sword, saber  
> buy'ce- helmet  
> Resol'nare- Six Actions, the tenets of Mando life  
> mandokar- the "right stuff", the epitome of Mando virtue - a blend of aggression, tenacity, loyalty and a lust for life  
> Morut'droten (Morut'la adj.)- The Tribe, lit. "Haven People."  
> alor'goran- metalworker that works with beskar, an Armorer.  
> dalcya (dalcyase pl., dalcya'yc adj.)- Sapphic, wlw


	2. yaim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How old are you anyways?”
> 
> “I…” Boba was very caught off guard by the question. “Fifteen?”
> 
> “Oh good. Had a bet going on with some of the vode over whether you were young or just short. I guessed you were around sixteen, personally. Everyone else was either way too high or way too low. Lucky me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so here's the other half of the major characters in this fic,

Boba had never seen so many Mando'ade in the same place before arriving at Tsarud. Perhaps he would've gotten the same experience at Keldabe, but he hadn't had time to do much more than just sneak his way into the Kyr'tsad headquarters. Tsarud was small, but everyone there had at least a kar’ta beskar on their shirt and maybe a vambrace or two. Most were wearing full beskar'gam.

While Boba was busy awestruck at the fact that Manda'yaim had Mando'ade, Ursa confidently led the small group through the maze-like streets. 

(Jango had told Boba once, while they were visiting Concord Dawn, that Mandos constructed towns in such a way so that outsiders and enemies would get lost. None of the places there had been as confusing as Tsarud, Mandos on Concord Dawn tended to at least attempt to make things more accessible to their many aruetii neighbors.)

“It's good you've been here before,” Koska commented, “coverts are always a pain to find. I only know where one is in Keldabe, and I've lived there my whole life.”

Ursa looked back. “I think that's the point, Morut'droten don't want to be found most of the time. And I haven't actually been here, I just have a good map,” she tapped her buy'ce.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the most unassuming door in the world. Ursa just opened it up strode in, not even bothering to knock. Boba and Koska both followed much more cautiously, Boba taking up the rear of the single file line in the narrow hallway. So much for being Alor. 

They were stopped, suddenly, presumably by someone just outside of Boba's limited line of sight. 

“Who are you?” A helmeted voice asked. Not demanding, just curious.

“Ursa Wren.”

“Wren…” the stranger repeated, clearly searching through their memory. “Right! I'm assuming your clan left House Vizsla after the power shift was announced? I heard the Nite Owls are with the new Mand’alor, that's quite the problem.”

Ursa shook her head. “Not yet. Right now I'm just hoping all of the Wrens on ‘Yaim will be able to return to Krownest without attracting too much drama from the Vizslas. Might need help later, but it's too early to see. I do need a favor for something related to that though…”

Ursa and Koska shifted to the side and suddenly Boba could see who they were talking to. 

And the stranger could see him back, of course. They looked stunned even with their buy'ce. “Mand’alor! I guess this does make some amount of sense but I…”

“Su’cuy,” Boba greeted awkwardly. He'd have to get used to the title fast. “I need an alor’goran to back up my claims to ancestry. Ursa recommended yours.” 

“Well our alor's a good choice for that and…” They paused for a moment to think. “We are quite far from Keldabe. I'm pretty sure most of us are optimistic about the shift as well. How old are you anyways?”

“I…” Boba was very caught off guard by the question. “Fifteen?”

“Oh good. Had a bet going on with some of the vode over whether you were young or just short. I guessed you were around sixteen, personally. Everyone else was either way too high or way too low. Lucky me!”

Boba had no idea how to respond to that. He didn't want to admit that he knew for a fact that he wouldn't grow much taller than he currently was. Thankfully, he did not actually have to respond, because the Mando just turned around and led them down through yet another maze and into the covert. 

What Boba could only assume was the main space of the covert was wide and spacey, little windows in the roof giving the room much more natural light than Boba would expect, especially since it was a bit late for sun. There were many Morut'droten in the space, many of them children, too young for buy'cese. A jovial mood permeated the space as they entered, but as people started to spot Boba, the room fell into a quieter curiosity. 

“Alor!” The Mando that led them in loudly called, either unaware of or not caring about the shift in the atmosphere. “The new Mand'alor needs your skills!”

In response to the call, the covert’s alor’goran seemed to just phase through the back wall of the room before settling in front of the forge. They were tall, very tall for a human, but the horns on their helmet suggested they were maybe a Zabrack, which would make the height a bit less alarming. Before Boba could even register that he was walking towards the forge and the Alor'goran, he was right before both. 

“So, the Mand'alor needs my humble skills,” the Alor'goran observed, voice low and even, but not without humor. 

“Well it's not like I'm an alor'goran, just Mand'alor,” Boba replied. It felt too early to just go around saying it like that. He could be killed in a duel the next day for all he knew. 

The Alor'goran laughed just a bit. “Just Mand'alor!” They repeated. “Alor'gorane can be found all over the galaxy, there is only one Mand’alor.”

Boba frowned. “Don't Morut'droten follow a different Mand'alor?” He remembered that from Jaster’s notes in the margins of a copy of the Supercommando Codex. He'd included an entire section for the Morut'droten explicitly outlining that fact and their right to have their own separate leadership. Not that the Morut'droten were ever bound to the Codex in the first place. 

“The Vizslas didn't want competition,” the Alor'goran replied, a sad note to their voice. “We have similar histories, Alor'ika. The fall of the Haat Mando'ade was paralleled by the fall of our own Mand'alor tradition.” They shook their head. “I will not speak for other coverts, but I do not mind following you for now.”

“Oh,” Boba whispered. He did not expect that. “Thank you.”

“Don't thank me,” the Alor'goran said with a dismissive wave. “I haven't even helped you yet.”

“Right. I need you to read my beskar'gam so I can prove I'm a Fett. Can I… Record a holo of it?”

The Alor'goran looked around the space around the forge, waving off everyone else in the room. “Just for this. It'll be a simple read, just to prove things, but you can always come back for a full read later.”

Boba nodded. “I don't have a holorecorder on me so it'll just be my buy'ce recording.”

“Well hopefully the public does not mind how shaky everything will be.” They replied lightly. “May I see your kar'ta beskar and your… Right pauldron?”

Boba nodded. It seemed most of the Mandos in this covert had chestplates without separate kar'ta beskare, he was glad he was just able to pop his out without anything else coming along. 

The Alor'goran took the pieces of beskar'gam and started collecting a few tools off the long workbench behind them. Boba started recording. 

“First, the pauldron.” The Alor'goran announced, tone shifting to become more performative. Boba wasn't quite sure if it was because he was recording or if that's what they always did. They had a magnifying device fit over their visor, the thing was large and complex enough that Boba wouldn't be surprised if it could allow one to see atoms. “Clearly originating from Concord Dawn- the style is one that was seen often on Haat Mando'ade, though it seems to have been reforged recently on Coruscant a few times… Clearly you hit a bit of a growth spurt recently.”

Boba shrugged. They weren't wrong about that. 

“It's on the newer side, but has probably still served a good couple of your ancestors.”

The Alor'goran switched to the kar'ta beskar. Their magnifier clicked as they focussed in on it. 

“Now this, this is an old, old piece. It's been with Clan Mereel for centuries, worn by Jaster before you… clearly a set fit for the Mand'alor, hmm? This piece is much older than your pauldron- separate kar'ta beskare tend to last much longer than most pieces and this isn't an exception. There's a lot of heart to this heart… It'll serve you well, Alor'ika.”

Boba nodded and switched off the recording. “Thank you.”

The Alor'goran tilted their buy'ce in a smile. “You can always come back later for that other read I mentioned. I was barely scraping the surface, but I can say you aren't a liar.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Boba replied with a grateful nod. He turned around to Koska and Ursa, a silent question in the tilt of his head. 

_ “I'm _ going back to Keldabe to pick up my ade, and then I'm off to Krownest,” Ursa started.  _ “You  _ need to stay here in Tsarud and find yourself a place to stay. I'd offer a place at our home on Krownest but I… Don't think it would be best for you to leave Manda’yaim.”

Boba could hear the hidden apology in Ursa’s words as she said them. She was technically still on the hook as Boba's security detail but… Family came first. If Kyr'tsad found out Ursa was helping him but had kids right under their noses..?

Koska shrugged. “That's fine, Boba and I can figure things out ourselves, right?”

Boba nodded slowly. 

“If all else fails and we end up being too broke for a proper room I'm sure there's someone that'll be happy to host the  _ Mand'alor.  _ Go give your male wife a kiss for me, eh?”

Ursa laughed and gave Koska’s shoulder a solid punch. “Male wife,” she scoffed, “you'll reach the domestic stage eventually, kid. Ade  _ are  _ a tenant.”

“Eh, I'll just be someone's cool ba’vodu or something,” Koska replied with a shrug. “You should leave before you miss your five hour train ride.”

“You don't even know I'm taking a train!” Ursa argued, even as she started walking out in a hurry. “I have all the time in the world.”

With Ursa gone, it was just Boba, Koska, and the Alor'goran. Before Boba and Koska could even start trying to plan their stay in Tsarud, the Alor'goran spoke again. 

“You could always stay down here with us.”

Koska looked over in surprise. “Are you sure? I'm sure we have enough between us to rent a room somewhere…”

The Alor'goran shook their head. “For how long? It'll be a while before things settle down in Keldabe, the Oyu'baat hasn't been a place for the Mand'alor to interact with the people in decades, and it won't go back to its roots in an instant. You're also much, much safer down here in the covert than up in town. I'm sure you're keeping a diligent watch, but assassins and challengers will be out in full force. No one down here will harm you, or challenge you. You have my word.”

Koska sighed and Boba instinctively looked up at her to decide. 

“You make a good point!” Koska admitted. “We'll stay here.”

The Alor'goran looked like they were grinning under their buy'ce. “Great! You,” they gestured at Koska, “can stay in one of the spare guest spaces we have scattered around. I'll lead the way. And you, Alor’ika…” Boba felt the Alor'goran’s gaze shift to rest on him, staring contemplatively. “You can stay with Clan Gotur. They have a kid your age, I'll have Ruus guide you to them, she knows the ad pretty well.”

“Ruus-?” Boba started to ask, but the Alor'goran had already turned, yelling Ruus’s name into the semi-hidden hallway they'd appeared from at the start. 

“Lek?” Came a distant shout back. 

“Tion liser gar tengaana haa Mand’alor at yaim be Aliit Gotur?”

A brief pause. 

“Haa Mand'alor???”

“Elek! K’olar!”

The kid that entered the room from the hidden hallway had a buy'ce very similar to the Alor'goran’s, right down to the rounded beskar Zabrack horns. If she wasn't the Alor'goran's ad, Boba’d eat his cape. 

Ruus looked at Koska. “So you're the new Mand'alor? What do you need with the Goturs?”

The Alor'goran chuckled and gestured towards Boba.  _ “He's _ the Mand'alor, ad’ika.”

“No fucking way,” Ruus muttered. 

“Language,” the Alor'goran gently chided. “He's staying with the Goturs for a while if they're okay with it, if they aren't, bring him to the Kurshos.”

“But what if the Kurshos say no?” 

“Then you come back here and we'll figure out another backup. That probably won't happen though.”

Ruus sighed loudly, grabbed Boba's arm, and started leading him down into the depths of the covert. 

“How old even are you?” Ruus asked

Boba had a feeling he'd be asked that a lot. 

“Fifteen. I'm fifteen.”

“Well so am I,” Ruus muttered, “and buir barely lets me touch the forge. I think if you get to be Mand'alor, I get to be an alor'goran.”

“Maybe you should kill your buir for the title,” Boba replied drily. 

Ruus punched Boba's buy'ce in such a way that it produced more sound than Boba thought was possible. He wondered if she had some sort of armorer knowledge that allowed her to know exactly where to punch him in order to be the most obnoxious. 

“Anyways, the Goturs live in this area over here,” Ruus said right as the ringing started to die down. “Din’s alright, a bit quiet and weird, but fine.”

“Din?” Boba repeated.

“That's the kid. He's like ten,” Ruus replied as she knocked. 

The door opened to reveal a Mando painted in full Kyr'tsad colors. Boba took a step back instinctively and the Mando raised their hands in surrender.

“I haven't had much time to repaint my beskar'gam, but I promise I'm with you.”

Boba laughed a bit. “So much for Kyr'tsad’s loyal followers.”

“Oh they know we've ready to leave at any moment this whole time, they just aren't organized enough to deal with it.” The Mando said, their smirk clear in their tone and the tilt of their head. “You've come to the right place, Mand'alor. But what are you doing here specifically?”

Ruus didn't even give Boba time to flounder. “He's staying for a bit, buir thought your clan could take him for the time being.”

“Well alor was right to think that, we'd be happy to take him. Thank you for walking him over, gor’ika!”

Ruus nodded and then quickly scampered off, leaving Boba with who he assumed was a member of clan Gotur. Hopefully.

“I'll let Din know you're here and then you can come in.”

Boba nodded, quietly wondering why everyone was talking about this Din kid so much. Ruus had said she was the same age as Boba, right? Why wasn't he staying with her clan?

There was a quick conversation behind the half closed door and then the Mando waved Boba in.

The main space was small, but only a tad smaller than the apartment Boba had grown up in on Kamino, and there were a few more rooms than back on Kamino. In terms of actual clan members though, the Goturs seemed a bit lacking. At the moment, Boba could only see the one that greeted him and a kid sitting on the couch by the wall across from him, their helmet obviously recently shoved on. Boba assumed this was Din. 

“Is this everyone?” Boba asked, surprise tainting his words without him really asking.

The Mando shrugged. “We're a clan of two.”

And who was Boba to judge, really? He'd just always heard that clans were often large. Clan Fett wasn't the only exception to that, it seemed. 

Boba nodded slowly and began taking off his boots. He had to do more Mand'alor things soon, he knew, but it almost felt like things were settling into a normal he'd only ever gotten glimpses of. He better not get used to it. 

“I'll go pull out the extra mattress and you can sleep in Din’s room, alright? We won't be able to eat together of course, unfortunately, but you’ll have the room to yourself during mealtimes. And don't be afraid to ask me for anything, just make sure you knock before entering my room, alright?” 

Boba frowned. “Does that mean I'm kicking Din out of his room? I can just sleep on the couch...”

The buir waved the concern away. “We've got a system, don't worry. Din loves sleepovers,” they turned to where Din was sitting. “Right, ad’ika?”

Din looked up from his holopad at his sudden inclusion in the conversation. “Huh?”

“You love sleepovers!” His buir repeated. 

Din nodded excitedly. “Oh yeah. It'll be fun! Promise.”

Boba smiled quietly and made his way over to the couch to sit next to Din. Then immediately after he sat, he realized he hadn't had a proper, normal, not-a-clone friend his age… Ever? He didn't know how to interact with this kid. Thankfully, Boba didn't have to think too hard about that before Din broke his silence. 

“Are you really the Mand'alor?” He asked. 

Boba frowned. Ruus clearly hadn't recognized him as the new Mand'alor at first. Did she just not watch the news with everyone else?

“Yeah, how'd you know?”

Din shrugged. “‘S what buir called you.”

Fair enough.

“...Plus I saw you on the news.”

Ah. Perhaps Boba was right about Ruus. 

“Well I'm fifteen, before you ask,” Boba grumbled. He was already sick of the question. 

“Oh, okay.” Din replied, sounding a bit baffled. “I'm thirteen and a half, so you aren't that much older than me.”

Boba blinked. Hadn't Ruus said Din was ten? He did have a buy'ce though…

“Yeah, I guess we are close.”

Din went back to whatever he was doing on his datapad and Boba tried his best not to look over his shoulder. It was awkward. Boba couldn't stop wondering what Din thought about him being Mand'alor, especially since he'd brought it up. And then dropped it almost immediately. Did he not care? If he didn't care, why did he ask? Was Boba overthinking all that? Probably.

He was just going to ask, actually. 

“So… I'm Mand'alor…” Boba started, realizing he wasn't quite sure  _ how _ to ask.

“...I know?” Boba could practically see the confused frown on Din’s face as he said that. 

“That's not uh, I mean you aren't like. Weirded out by that right? Intimidated..?”

Din shrugged. “I mean you’re just a kid. Dunno why I would.”

Boba sighed silently. He didn't realize how much of a relief that would be until Din said it. Things would be fine, at least for now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baby Din!!! For context Ruus is the Armorer we know in the show :)
> 
> Mando'a translations:  
> Kyr'tsad- Death Watch  
> beskar'gam- armor  
> Manda'yaim- Mandalore  
> Mando'ade- Mandalorians  
> Morut'droten- The Tribe, lit. "Haven People."  
> Mand'alor- the sole ruler of the Mandalorians  
> buy'ce (buy'cese pl.)- helmet  
> alor- leader, chief, boss, etc. very general term.  
> su'cuy- hi  
> alor'goran- metalworker that works with beskar, an Armorer.  
> vode- siblings, "bros"  
> Haat Mando'ade- True Mandalorians (political group)  
> kar'ta beskar- iron heart, the diamond symbol at the center of most Mandalorian armor  
> ad (ade pl.)- kid  
> ba'vodu- aunt/uncle  
> Oyu'baat- ancient hotel in Keldabe, previous unofficial center for Mandalorian politics  
> lek?- yeah?  
> Tion liser gar tengaana haa Mand’alor at yaim be Aliit Gotur?- Can you show the Mand'alor to Clan Gotur’s home?  
> Haa Mand'alor???- The Mand'alor??? (haa is archaic, like thee)  
> Elek! K’olar!- Yes! Come here!  
> ad'ika- little one  
> buir- parent  
> gor'ika- "little metalworker"


	3. echoy'la

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Boba is clearly very young, I doubt they have much experience as a leader. Their best bet is to bring back the Supercommando Codex, they probably wouldn't be able to write anything up to that caliber no matter how much of a wonder child they are. I think the question that should really be asked is where is Jango in all of this? Why hasn't Jango returned to reclaim the Darksaber? Why has he sent his ad to do his dirty work?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter this time, I'm sure you'll see why... I got a bit distracted. Whoops!

\- - --ile we don't know much about the new Mand'alor, Boba Fett, including their pronouns, it's important to note their lineage. It's been 35 years since Jaster Mereel was Mand'alor, and his son and heir Jango Fett was only Mand'alor for 8 years after that before he disappeared in the Battle of Galidraan. Jaster Mereel was a very impactful Mand'alor with his Supercommando Codex, of course, and now the question is: will Boba be reinstating it?

\- Boba is  _ clearly  _ very young, I doubt they have much experience as a leader. Their best bet is to bring back the Supercommando Codex, they probably wouldn't be able to write anything up to that caliber no matter how much of a wonder child they are. I think the question that should really be asked is where is Jango in all of this? Why hasn't Jango returned to reclaim the Darksaber? Why has he sent his ad to do his dirty work?

\- Well if we're being honest with ourselves, the former Mand'alor is probably dead. After his stunt with the Republic clones, he's gone completely missing in the years following, minus a few vague rumors. No buir would let their ad become Mand'alor at Boba’s age. 

\- That's true, but we should take into account the fact that Jango has seemed to drop off the edge of the galaxy previously, first after Galidraan before he became a bounty hunter, and again in what can now be assumed are the early days of the cloning process. This could be another period of disappearance from Jango. 

\- But if Jango is in hiding, why isn't Boba?

\- Well that brings us to my original que-- - -

  
  
  


\- - -- most popular epitaph according to recent holonet data, excluding all the wildly trending jokes like “Mand’alor haa Di’kut” and “Mandalore the Tea,” is Evaar’la. Some other suggestions can be seen here. 

[POPULAR TITLES (Minus jokes and negligible suggestions)

Mand’alor haa Evaar’la- 48.2%

Mand’alor haa Gaanla- 24.1%

Mand’alor haa Kyramud- 11.9%

Mand’alor haa Kih 5.6%

Other trending titles >2% - 10.2%]

Of course, it is very early to be picking an epitaph, but often early suggestions like these, especially ones that start trending on the holonet, end up being the ones that become official. We do not know much about the new Mand’alor, of course, but people, as always, are quick to extrapolate on what they have.

If Boba Fett ends up with the title Mand'alor haa Evaar'la, the question must be asked: how long will they truly be “evaar'la?” They will inevitably grow up, and their ideas and reign will stop being new in a few years. Is evaar’la a proper title for the Mand'alor? 

There are many critics of the epitaph, but a solid second place alternative hasn't seemed to arise. Perhaps it will in the next few days, but with the instant popularity of evaar'la, it doesn't seem like anything else has much of a chance.

According to this gra-- - -

  
  
  


\- - --cause the Nite Owls are part of Death Watch simply out of necessity. I don't think many people, especially those on the fringes of Kyr'tsad territory, quite understand how much control Kyr'tsad has over Keldabe. It can be argued that their control in general is slipping, especially now, but the less control over fringe territory will always mean an increased grasp on Keldabe.

\- I understand that, but what does that have to do with the Nite Owls going from a support and pride group to a militaristic one? 

\- You cannot form anything close to an alternative faction within the city grounds. It will not survive. 

\- But a group for dalcyase? That's hardly an alternative faction. 

\- Doesn't matter. It's an organized group with a threatening number of members. Aligning with Kyr'tsad was the only option to keep it alive, that's why it's one of a kind in Keldabe. We were the only ones willing to fall that far, any other group decided they'd rather split up than ally with them. 

\- Ka’ra. 

\- And really, if you ignore a huge percentage of Kyr'tsad's politics, the Nite Owls have things in common. It's a subtle mercy. 

\- Do I want to know?

\- Oh, it's just New Mandalore, don't worry. 

\- Oh right, of course. Carry on. 

\- A lot of the owl symbolism, the word dalcya, a lot of the culture around these things was developed offworld. I'll say that a lot of what I see in the Nite Owls mirror similar Mando communities on Coruscant, while Concord Dawn I've heard has a similar sense of community with very different labels and symbols, more synonymous with the larger outer rim culture.

A lot of the younger ade… I don't think they grasp how much New Mandalore changed everything, even all the way out here in the depths of Kyr'tsad territory. New Mandalore brought Basic gender constructs, Galactic Basic, that is, it brought all that to Mandalore when traditionally… I mean you know. Next we'll be seeing an emphasis on biological children over foundlings. Not that Clan Vizsla hasn't gone all out with that, hah! Anyways, I mean, owl eyes used to be everywhere. But after they gained a more specific meaning within the community you don't see them outside of it. And don't get me wrong! It's all needed, it's all what those ade need now that it's here. But New Mandalore and the Kryze clan are why a lot of this exists, and Kyr'tsad, well… 

\- And Bo-Katan being alor?

\- <huff> I’ve already said too much against Kyr'tsad, I don't want to lose my job too. 

\- Right, sorry. 

\- She's part of why the Nite Owls can operate like it is properly, and I think allying us with the new Mand'alor was a welcome surprise. That's all I'll-- - -

  
  
  


\- - --doing alright, we just had a bit of a scuffle with some Death Watch goons this morning in the studio! They were saying something about how our last broadcast was full of lies and slander and the like. And because I know everyone watching is wondering, my lek is not broken, don't worry, they just pulled on it a bit, the wraps are for a few cuts. 

Anyways! Good morning Tsarud, and welcome to the morning report, now with less censorship and more anti-Kyr'tsad propaganda. Last night, the new Mand'alor posted footage of their beskar'gam being read, proving their claims to ancestry. Though we may never know if Jango Fett actually formally passed the mantle to his ad, that is the most likely possibility, and Boba can claim to be the first true Mand’alor since the illegitimate possession of the Darksaber by Tor Vizsla. 

Some critics claim that either the footage or dialogue has been doctored, or that the alor'goran in the footage is illegitimate. We asked one of the local alor'gorane for their opinion on these clai-- - -

  
  


\- - --swear you'll be the reason our podcast goes down. 

\- But am I wrong?

\- No, you aren't. You're just saying some things that'll at least break a few of our bones.

\- I'm confident we can keep ‘em out.

\- I'm not! Maybe you can throw a few punches, but you aren't the reason we have a podcast. 

\- Yeah, alright. <throat clears> Hey Kyr'tsad, if you're listening? We love you! All that was just jokes, don't send anyone here. I'm comin’ down to Keldabe to give you a big ole kiss.

\- I swear, if you start singing that dumb little song-

\- I won't! Not while we're recording.

\- You're really living life on the edge making enemies with everyone. 

\- I try my best!

\- Also if you're listening for the first time, it's always like this. Last week we got a concerned comment worrying that we forgot to edit an argument out and I'll say right now that you'll know if we do that.

\- Now that the disclaimer is out of the way can we talk about how many people absolutely adore the new Alor on the holonet even though they've said maybe three things so far? Like what if they end up being terrible?

\- That could happen, but consider this: they're baby. 

\- Okay but we don't even know that either, it's just suspected that they're in their teens. You see what I'm getting at?

\- Yeah, sure, you make a good point, but also they're baby. 

\- When they end up being just as bad as the Vizslas you're going to look back and regret that you called the Mand'alor baby on our semi-public podcast. I swear. 

\- You say that but I think it would be really, really hard for a Mand'alor that killed Pre Vizsla in a duel and then immediately announced that Death Watch was being torn down to b-- - -

  
  


“Mando?”

The Mandalorian finally looked up towards Orana, even though she'd been calling for them for about a minute. Typical.

“Sorry Orana, fell asleep,” they replied, stretching a bit for show. She didn't buy it for a second. 

“I could hear the newscasts you were listening to, Togrutan hearing is much better than human hearing you know.” 

The Mando sighed heavily like they'd expected to be found out. Orana vaguely wondered why she'd ever been intimidated by the Mando in the first place, sleek black and purple paint job aside, but then she remembered when one of their hunts had gotten a bit too close to the cantina. 

It was easy to see why Orana didn't get any of the good jobs when they were around. 

“I think I'm going to go on a bit of a… Vacation,” the Mando said lightly. “You'll get first pick in jobs for a bit.”

Orana frowned. “You going to go over to Mandalore to kill that kid they were talking about?”

“The new Mand'alor? Were you really able to pick up on their supposed age just from overhearing my channel surfing?”

“I pick up on details like that when you're clearly planning an assassination.” Orana shrugged. “Didn't think you'd be a fan of child murder.”

The Mando sighed yet again. They sighed too much in general. “You don't know me, Orana.”

Orana smiled, her sharp teeth bright and visible. “Sure don't, Mando! Be sure to send me a postcard while you're there. I'll take your place lookin at Mando news all the time just to look out for ya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll get back to actual Boba in no time, don't worry! And don't worry about the nice lad in this chapter either :)
> 
> Mando'a translations:  
> Mand'alor- the sole ruler of the Mandalorians  
> ad (ade pl.)- child  
> buir- parent  
> di'kut- idiot, useless individual, waste of space (lit. someone who forgets to put their pants on)  
> evaar’la- young, new  
> gaanla- chosen  
> kyramud- killer, assassin   
> kih- small  
> Kyr'tsad- Death Watch  
> dalcya (dalcyase pl.)- sapphic, wlw  
> Ka'ra- stars - ancient Mandalorian myth - ruling council of fallen kings  
> alor- leader, chief, boss, etc. very general term.  
> beskar'gam- armor

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment if you want! I would enjoy it greatly.


End file.
